Postgame Interview with Jeff Morgan
DURANT, Okla. – Harding shot 74 percent in the first half and made nine 3-pointers to pull away from Southeastern Oklahoma for a 82-70 Great American Conference victory at Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
The victory gave Harding a 6-5 overall record and a 5-1 mark in the GAC. The Bisons' win, combined with losses by Arkansas Tech and Southwestern Oklahoma have Harding alone in first place in the conference standings. The Bisons won in Durant for the first time since 1998, snapping a streak of seven straight setbacks.
Southeastern lost its seventh straight and fell to 4-8 overall and 2-4 in the GAC.
Harding senior Jacob Gibson made five 3-pointers in the first half and scored 17 of his team-high 23 points before halftime. The Bisons took their first double-digit lead at 28-17 on a Gibson 3-pointer with 8:56 left in the first half. A layup by Will Francis at the 3:51 mark gave Harding a 19-point lead at 42-23, its largest of the first half.
Harding had its highest-scoring first half of the season and led 49-35 at the break.
The Bisons' extended the lead to a game-high 21 points at 57-36 on freshman Braden Eggleston's layup. Eggleston made his first start for the Bisons and had nine points.
Harding weathered a 14-2 Southeastern run that cut the Bisons' lead to 59-50 with 11:39 left. Gibson stopped the run with a jumper, and Harding pushed the lead to as many as 15 points twice down the stretch.
TEAM STATS
Harding made 11 3-pointers in the game. It was the fifth straight game with 10 or more 3-pointers.
The Bisons entered the game as the GAC leader in assist-to-turnover ratio, and had 21 assists to only 13 turnovers. Southeastern had nine assists and 16 turnovers.
Harding shot 54 percent, its second straight game over 50 percent and fourth of the season.
Southeastern shot 46 percent, hit 8-of-25 3-pointers and 16-of-23 free throws.
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Gibson was 9-of-12 from the field, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range. It was his third 20-point game of the season.
Gibson's five 3-pointers gave him 162 for his career, moving him past Lonnie Smith (158, 2004-06) and Ronnie Brothers (160, 1991-93) into second place on Harding's career list. Aaron Farley holds the school record with 206 3-pointers.
Will Francis scored 18 points and had five assists. He has scored in double figures in eight of Harding's last nine games.
Sophomore Micah Bailey scored a career-high 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting and led the team with a career-high seven rebounds.
Junior Anton Cook led Southeastern with 19 points. He made four of the Savage Storm's eight 3-pointers.
